The Maronite Catholic Church: History and Identity

One in ChdsrVOLUME 42 NUMBER 1 SUMMER 2OO8

tu

z9

BX:l*'oLrc

cHuncH : HtsroRy AND IoENury

}Moronit.- Church in Lebanon is widely known to be the

G;A inou, Church in the Middle East, but whqt rs less well

fT,.l'';n!;,,1':!,::;:",;:;i,':',,:{,,:l:,Y:;::;':,i;,T:,;;!:lz

f *, historiogrophy of the Maronite Church'

lisfns of the Maronite Church

] -

nt", r,i- I shall recall Maron, for he too adorned the godly cho-ir of

i ti" ruinrr. Embracing the open-air life, he repaired to- a hill-.top

l' ior-"rlv honoured Uy ttre impious. Consecrating to God the precinct

l ;i;;;;.; on it, he lived there, pitching a small tent which he seldom

t' ur.J. H" practised not only the uzual labors, but devised others as

i, well, heaping uP the wealth of philosophy''

hhis is how Theodoret of Cyrrhus introduces the holy man Maron in

lris Eccles iastical History. T'he entry is extremely brief and, although

ivl.ro, is also mentionid in the Lives of Symeon the Elder, James,

Umnaeus et al, Zebinas and Domnina' as an extremely influential

figure in Syrian asceticism, we actually know remarkably little about

tfrs fifth-ientury monk who is revered as the inspiration fo1 an

Oriental Catholic Church. There is a belief held by many of the

faithful that Maron was resident at Kafar Nabo, on the Syrian

limestone Massif and that he was buried nearby in the town of Brad'

* Emma loosley, Universify of Manchester, teaches Middle Eastern Art and

Architecture whiist havi'g an expertise in Eastern Christianity in the M-iddle

East. Between 2oo1 ancl iepte,rb". zoo3 she lived in the monastery of Deir

Mar Musa in the mountains of Syria, which has become a major centre for

Christian-Muslim relations in the Miadt" East. Her research interests include

the evolution of Christian Art, the Architecture of monasticism, pilgrimage,

cross-currents at the fringes of the Roman and Persian empires and the

transition from Christian to Islamic Art'

, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, A History of the Monks of syria, tr. R'M'Price,

cistercian Studies Series 88 (Michigan: Kalamazoo, 1985) u7'

'Theodoret of Cyrrhu s, A History oJ'the monks of Syria, lr9'

Jo

then the provincial capital of the region:Theodoret mentions that when St. Maroun decided to lead a life ofisolation, he went to a rugged mountain halfivay between Cyrrhus andAleppo. There was a huge pagan temple for [the] god Nabo of whichwas derived the name of the mountain and the neighboring villageKfarnabo...St Maroun died around 4ro AD and willed to be buried inSt. Zabina's tomb in Kita in the region of Cyrrhus. However, his willwas not executed because people from different villages wanted tohave him buried in their towns. Theodoret's descfiption of St.Maroun's burial place points to the populous town of Barad [Brad] inthe proximity of Kfarnabo. A huge church was built in tliat town,around the beginning ofthe fifth centuryAD.r i

In fact there is no literary or archaeological i,formation to suppofi Ithis view as there is no contemporary information on Maron birr"lthan Theodoret's account. Frazee points out that in his philotheos,lTheodoret says that Bet Maroun was the shrine of Maron's ,elics anjlthat it was located on the orontes in the vicinity of Apamea. Thelmajor significance of this is that in 445 Theodoret staies that thelhouse already has 4oo monks.l Obviously this directly contradicts thellegends that have grown up around Maron, but whereas there is Jdearth of information on St. Maron himself, the ecclesiasticallchronicles do allow us glimpses of Bet Maroun as it evolved into alhighly influential centre of monasticism. I

Our next documentary reference to Maron himself comes almost althousand years later in the writings of the Arab historian Abu al-Fidtr(n73-ry3r). This also mentions that the followers of st. Maron ol

ffi*uff*ruffffi*ffij Antoine Khoury Harb, TheAtallah Publishing, r9q) $-18.a Charles Frazee, 'The Maroniteno.r-2 (rgZB) 88-roo.5 Charles Frazee,'The Maronite

Maronites. History and Constants (kbano{

Middle Ages', Eastern Churches Review,*, {

Middle Ages', 9r. I

Maronite faithful and th

the controversy centres c

The First Patriarch: St.

Today travellers to the r

district of Batroun, n(

reliquary shaPed as the

holds the head of St. Je:

proudly proclaim as fir

nephew of Charlemagne

Near the end of the

of Mount Lebanon

and had becotne I\

brcthretr arriving fpttrsrred their rnissi

area, and anY rcgul

became irnPossihle

Patriarch, lt'ho was

The Ernperor ofover the Chtrrch' H

itr ecclesiastical ma

of turning to hirn tt

Patriarch fcrr themr

consent. Whilc irtrMaronites, and a I

victorY ftrr the latwhere hc rnade the

t' .*'*,*t.,rptr sl il-la tri.<l rg. lll>

s()urces arc, rightly, rcg,al

Lcbanotr thcY arc ln()l'c \This is firr two rcasotts' I

destroycd dtrritrg thc Lcba

strtrggling to catch tr1'r wi

Sc.condly, pcrhal-rs as a c()l

computcr-litcratc arld adt

tnany <lthcr cotttrlries tnca

in this firrlnat. Scc firr cx

Maronitc Rcscarclt lnstittIn()rc Marotritcs trorv lir"r

traditional tnott trtaitr hc;

res()urcc firr d isscrninatinl

hn decided ro lead a life ofllfway between Cyrrhtrs andpr [the] god Nabo of whichlnd the

.neighboring villageland willed ro be buried iniCyrrhus. However, his will[fferent villages wanted to

floret's description of St.

[rs town of Barad [Brad] in

fh- was built in rhat townD'I

linformation to support[nation on Maron otherlthat in his philotheos,

fe of Maron's relics andfcinity of Apamea. Thepodoret states that theldirectly contradicts theput whereas there is afelf, the ecclesiastical

Fn as it evolved into a

dmself comes almost ar historian Abu al-Fidawers of St. Maron orVlaroun in the Diocesechoing the writings ofe the evolution of thiser to Pope Hormisdastristians, who rvere atastery of St. MatronisIt is shortly after this:ween the belief of the

d Constonls (Lebanon:

Churches Review, vol ro,

)r

Maronite faithful and the documented historical events and this time

the controversy centres on a figure named St' Jean Maron'

The First Patriarch: St' Jean Maron

Today travellers to the monastery of St. Jean Maron l(afarhaye in the

districtofBatroun,northernLebanon,areshownanelaborate,.i,q*.y shaped as the bust of a haloed yourlg man' This reliquary

ir;ii;,r;. neaa of st. )ean Maron whom the monks at the monastery

proudly proclaim as hrst patriarch of the Maronite Church and a

;;il; of churl.rnagne. The official Maror-rite view is:

Near the encl of the fifth century of the christian era' the inhabitants

of Mount Lebanon had been converted by the disciples of St. Maron

andhadbeconreMaronitestlremselves.Tlresenowwelcomedtlreirbretlrrerr u,.M,.,g fi'om Antiocl.r and tlre two groups, now mingled,

pursucd th"i, -irrio' together. when the Arabs fi.ally dorninated the

area, and any regular contact *i,h ,h" patriarchate of constantinople

became i,r,lrorrii''1", the Maronites hal to appoint in 687 their own

Patriarch, who was Saint fohn-Maron'TlleErnpertlrcrfByz,arrtitrmacteclasiflrisroyalatrtlroriryextended

over the Churcl'r. He appoi,teJPatriarchs ancl in many ways interfered

in ecclesiastical rnatters. The Cl'rristians for their part got into a habit

ofturr.ringttll.rirntosrrlvetlreirproblems'wls"tlreMaronitesclroseapatriar.ch for. themselves, the authorities at Byzantiurn withheld their

consent'Whileinvaclingtlreregion,theimperialarrnyattackedtlreMaronites, and a battle wa, f.rrght at Amioun, which resulted in a

victory for the latter. The Patriirch established himself at Kfarhay'

whc're t," ,ruaethe Episcopal palace his seat'6

u .***..,1ruslibani.org.lbr. It is worth mentioning here that whereas internet

sources are, rightlr, i**J with suspicio' in m.st academic sources, in

lebanon they are ,;"r; wiclely .o,-,*lt"d by stude,ts and academics alike'

This is for two reasons. Firstly, and most significantly, many libraries were

destroyecl cltrri,g ti'," L"lru,',esecivil war and even those that surwived are n.w

struggling to catch trp with the years of pul'rlications tl'rat they have rnissed'

Seconclly,perlrapsasaConseqLlenceoftlreabove,mostLebanesearefarmclrecomputer-literate ald adept it using internet resources than the rnajority of

many other countries ,r"u.ti,',g that rirore information is rnade available locally

in this format. See fcrr example .*.*uri.org> the intemet journal of the

Maronite Rerear.l', lnstitute. Finally the Maror''1t" diutpora lneans that rnapy

more Maro,-,it", nn* live outside Lebanon than remain at home in their

traditional tnountain l'reartlancls ancl therefore the internet is a valuable

resource ftrr clisserninating information and fostering a colnrlon identiry'

32

o, the other ha,d there are some i' academic circres who claimthat Jean Marol is a compl"t.'i,.,.,r.,rtion .rJIt., there is no evidenceto suggest such a figure ever existed. a, -ort peopre r,vi, probabryrealise, the truth rieJ some*nur. betwee, ir,"r" two extremes but itseems likery that a figure of this name did h;r; a sig,ifica,t effecr onthe formatio, of t[e rtau.oni,. church. i*r.. points out thatEutychius of Arexa,dria d. '9i9)

writes oi'tri- a,d three syriactreatises sti, exta,t craim,lean Ma.on as thei.'"uthor.7 The fact that hedoes not menti.on anx p"iri"r.r, after s.".rr, "f A,tioch arso firmryplaces the treatises i,'the ri-i-n century. It seems prude.t therefore toaccept that Jea, Maron was a sig,ificant figure in this evorvingreligious movement i, the ,i*lt,;:",r*"ilT as with rhe case ofMaron himserf, ,*.ryr! accept a consideribt" divergence between theperceptions of the faithfur a,rd the rrirt-i."ialir-.,.,rr.These differing p..."prir* of o.igi,r,

";urt be conti,uaryu,derlined becauie tr,.y

".. ",r lrruu p..uri., to the Mar.onite church.No other Christian a*"-rr.,io, t", ,r.t,-.vsterious, and oftencontentious, origi,s. sr..m"n,, obr".r."r, ;w""ao

rrot know muchabout Maro,ite [irto.iogrudy^u"ror. tr," nt".nth century. we haveto prezume that _Maroniier'r..o.d.a tr,.i, t,Lao during and beforethe time of the crusades, l;;';."rry.notfi* i"l come dor,vn ro us.,Y :i1,lt:fl', tT ffix,ii*_H;1;, ; ; cr,,?. i' r, * ilil ; J,, u,

H e raclius and Theolog icql (Jnort hodoxyThis ambiguity about Maroniteorigins is.rargery due to the fact thatthe earry Maronite .o--u,ri,v ,as ttr" -orty

denomination tosubscribe to the-Ekrn"ro o? rn,-p.ro. Heracrius in 63g a,d espouse hisnew doctrine of monotherifir;, which ";;;;l that chriri h., or.wilr and is both man and God. At firsr ffiil was upherd in bothConstantinople. and no-", -Uul,-,h,,

'fr"f'"a in 6go when a

tonstantinoporitan council lo,dernned ,,,? Ekthesis and themonothelite pTry as hereticar. rr,.r..n..'=o,rry the Maronitescontinued to forow the d;il;. and it ,* auii,rg this period thatJean Maro, came to the r"* i"J.the Maron],ulon"oic tradition wasfirsr recognised as a Chu..r,. witt, th. #.;rg i,stabirity in the7 Charles Frazee, ,The..lVlaronite

M;le Ages,, 9r.,"Hli,fi :,x?L;*#Jfl 1tg",flT,l,r"T-Xrdeorosy,,rherournator

region caused b1

of the ByzantineMount Lebanorhermitages of tQadisha and the

spiritual heartlatAs with many (

at some pointdwelling monkscame about throthe MaronitesChristians to en

of Tyre rvrote inand joined witremained hostil,Patriarch feremipallium as a sigAlthough dissenwith the FranksCrusading statespersecuted as cragain the Marontheir communitrWadi l(annoubirescape the deprCrusades. This h

the Church and r

Thcy lroul'As |bcil war

thcir road I

of'the Rcstr

What is not inremained loyal I

monastic identitof the intellectu

e Shafiq AbouzaydChristiani4u, K. Par'" Taken from Hrstr

*\ -,/\\ \^n\ ,\L^" - ^.''

nic circles who claimt there is no evidencepeople r,vill probablyr two extremes but itr significar-rt effect onree points out thatm and three Syriachor.7 The fact that helAntioch also firmlyprudent therefore tore in this evolvingas with the case ofergence between thenents.

tst be continuallyre Maronite Church.sterious, and oftenlo not know muchh century. We have, during and beforei come dolvn to us.tas destroyed older

lue to the fact thatdenomination to

i38 and espouse hisut Christ has oneras upheld in bothin 68o when akrhesis and they the Maronitesg this period thatastic tradition wasinstability in the

The lournal of)w"

33

rqion caused by both religious conflicts and the military campaigns

of the Byzanti,e, p..riun ""r-ra

er"u forces, the Maronites retreated to

MountLebarron.Itwasatthispoint.that.h'.monasteriesandhermitages of the Maro,ites proliierated in and around the Wadi

Qadisha and the foundatiolls were laid for this region to become the

iiri,u"f heartland of the Maronite Church'

As with many elements of Maronite history the details are vague' but

atsomepointinthetwelfthcenturythisChurchofmountain-dwelling monks .nt.r.d into a formal union with Rome' This contact

came about through the presence of Latin Crusaders in the region and

the Maro,ites *?.. siirgled out by becomi,g the only Eastern

Christians to .nt., the RJman fold. The Crusader chronicler William

of Tpe wrote in ,,g, that 4o,ooo Maronites renounced monothelitisrn

and|oinedwiththeCrusaders,althoughthemountain-dwellersremained hostile to the invaders. Nevertheless in rzr3 the Maronite

patriarch Jeremiah al-Amshiti visited Rome and in rzr5 received the

pallium as a sign of the Maronite acceptance into the Roman fold'e

Although disseni remai,ed within the Maro,ite ranks at this union

with the Franks and their Latin Church, the eventual conquest of the

Crusading statesiy ,n. fuf"-luks healed these divisions as they were

persecuted ", .oti"uorators for their support.of the Crusaders. once

again the Maronii.r r".re forced to retrelt to the mountains to protect

their community. From r44o until r8z3 the Patriarchate was based in

Wadi l(annoubine after the Maronites retreated from ]beil (Byblos) to

escapethedepredationsoftheMamluksintheaftermathoftheCrusades. This has been interpreted as a retreat ilto the wilderless for

the Church ald described by one commentator in the following terms:

Tlreymclttrr.redbtrttookstockofthernselves,andenteredclnanewlife'As|beil*u,tl.,"Maronites,Gardenofolives,soWadiKannoubinewastl.reir.roacltoGolgotlra,andtlrerelemainedtothemorrlytlretritrmplrof tl're Resurrection''"

WhatisnotinanydoubtisthefactthattheMaroniteChurchremained loyal to its roots as a church firrnly wedded to its early

monastic identity. Maronite monasteries remained the powerhouses

of the intellectul tif. of the Church and all events centred on the

e Slrafiq Abouzaycl, 'Maronite church' in The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern

Chri.stianiry, f. e*,y, "irf . (eds) (Oxfcrrd: Blackwells, 1999) l"?..1t8:,., Taken fi.orn Histo ry of'the Maronite Patriorchate <www'opuslibani'org'lb>'

34

Patriarchate' whatever the truth behind this retreat, whether or notthe Mamluk depredations were as organised apd methodical as theMaronites feared, this perception of peisecutio, and struggre, weddedto a self-image of a serf-sufficient arid spiritrut -ou"r"i,ffi;;pre, hasleft an indelibre mark on the Maro,ite o*.h. and this period is seenas having forged a strong identity for the Church.Closer links with RomeThe next evorutionary step for the Maro,ite Church was i.creasingLatinization, as.Rorg gought to brir-rg t,...irt.rnmost Cathorics morestrongly i,to the ruta. rtris was aihieved towards the e,d of thesixtee.th century when the papa.r legate, .lu*,, named John BaptistEliano, destroyed

- many Maronite manuscripts that were deemedunsuitabre for Catholic worship. In r5g4 o# Gregory XIII foundedthe Maronite Coilege in Romei ,,ra

-uy-."rl-rrirg the education ofmany Maronite priests he was abre to further tighte, vaficanauthority over this remote, mountain-dweili,g congregation.with recurring accusations that the "Maronite

Church wasdeliberatelv obscuring its zupposedry heretic"i ;;;;rr,-;;tnur,r,refuted this in the se*re.tee.tir'ce,tury with a schorarry campaign redby Patriarch stephan Duwaihri (67o-r7oa) who i"r.. became known as'the Father of Maronite Historiography'. th. flourishi.g of schorarshipirr this period arso incruded Joseph-Simo, Asse-a,, i (fig7_r76g) whois well known by wester, schorars, as weil as in his native Leba,on, forhis rvork catalogui,g the orie,tal christiari .r.,rr..ipts ow,ed by theVatican' with this strong desire to create a, officiar Maronite-r,irtrrytied strongly to a nationar Leba,ese ide,tity, the writers of this era _especially Patriarch Duwaihi - were hailed as the defi,itive chro,icrersof the Maro.rite Church. whirsr historia,; ;;;;l.bate rhe accuracy ofDuwaihi's work and do ,ot credit him *iin 1,., ...u.ate historicaraccou,t, his work stirr resonates today as the contemporaryecclesiasticar hierarchy mak. "*t.nriue use tr r,i, work and decrare ittheir authorised view or nirtorf.'wt itr, -oa.r,r-rchorars such as paurRouha,a have successfilry demonstrated the weararesses of Duwaihi,there is still a reructan.. io uo, to the inevitabre and many schorarshave found pubrishi,g their ',o.t difficurt ir-irr. Lebanon if they

refutethat I

otherin thKosliltheir

WhDurvastrotrlthe C

ln paBy 16

AnthrRomtintro,thatauthrgovelrvhoEnrpi

The r

It rva

MaroDeirofficiand'rvhenautotMourthe rPatri;regio

r': Pat

Dtrtt'.t

" Al-,1',

(r5r6-'u HisI

;l.r"f.;fr:;"?.'o' 'Maronite church' in rhe Btqckweil Dictionary of Eostern

, whether or notethodical as the;truggle, weddedttain people, hasis period is seen

was increasingCatholics more

the end of theLed John Baptist: were deerned

ry XIII foundedte education ofighten Vaticanation.

Church wasts, the Churchy campaign led:ame larown as

1of scholarship687-1768) whoe Lebanon, for; owned by theuonite historyrs of this era -ive chroniclershe accurary ofrate historicalcontemporaryand declare it; such as Paul:s of Duwaihi,nany scholars)anon if they

rury of'Eoslerrt

35

refute Duwaihi.'' Many Maronites privately acknowledge nowadays

that Maronite history did exist before Duwaihi and that there are

other interpretations of the facts, but this view is by no means current

in the ..rtr. of Maronite learning, the (Jniversite Saint-Esprit de

kslik(USEI(), where the older, ,,oi. conservative scholars still teach

their students that Duwaihi is the staple source of Maronite history'

What is clear is that, leaving the issue of the veracity of Patriarch

Duwaihi's historical works "rid., it was during this period that a

strong consciousness of what it meant to be 'Maronite' evolved and

the C"hurch became a political force to be reckoned with in Lebanon'

in prU this political sirength was facilitated by the support of Rome'

By 16ro a piinting press "was in operation in the Monastery of St'

Anthony in Qortiaya. This press was brought by missionaries from

Rome and was in use almost two hundred years before Napoleon

introduced the first press to Egypt.'3 It was also around this period

that the Maronites bega, t; ally themselves with the Druze

authorities of southern Lebanon i,, order to institute a federal

gou.rnrn.nt of the regiol. This was to the advantage of both parties

who each wapted " I.gt.. of autolomy from the ruling Ottoman

Empire, and the alliance continued until t84z'

The Origins of Diaspora: The Nineteenth Century

It was with growing confidence in the nineteenth century that the

Maronite PatriarchJt. -ou.d out of its self-imposed wilderness in

Deir Qanloubine, Wadi Qadisha, and took up residence in two new

officiai residences. From r8z3 the Patriarch spent sutilner in Dimane

and winter i, Bkerke.a This coincided with malor political changes

when from r84z until 186r the Maronites became practically

autonomous when the ottomans and the European powers divided

Mount Lebanon ir-rto two calmacamicf (regions), a Maronite district in

the north and a Druze district in the south. This was criticised by

Patriarch Youssef Hobeiche (1823-1845) on the grounds that each

region had a significant minority ortn. other faith and that this would

t2 Paul Rouhana, personal communication regarding the supremacy of

Duwaihi in Maronite historiography,r Abbot paul Naaman L.M.O, 'Cirurch and Politics in the Maronite Experience

(1516-1943)' , The Journal of Maronite studies, vol 2' no 1 (1998),<www'mari'org>;* ninni of the Maronite Potriorchate, <www.oPtlslibani'org>'

36

cause religious divisions." The violence escalated with atrocities onboth sides until it erupted into fulr-scale massacres in rg6o. AMaronite website sums up the cost of rg6o as forows:It is not,known exactry how many christians were sraughtered inLebanon but most ,orr"", put the dgrr" t"*""n z,oooto u,ooo andsome weil over 2o,ooo. A retter in thI Engrish Daily News in July rg5ostates that between 7,ooo and g,ooo iad been murdered, 5,ooowidowed and 16,oo. orphan,ed. rtar'ru.r.y, J" u retter, speaks of 326villages, 56o crrurches, zg colleges, 4, ;.;;";ts, and 9 otrrer religiousestablishments, had been totailt*rir"r*. chur.hilr puts the figuresas ll,ooo murdered, loo,ooo ."fug""r,

,ro,ooo widows ur.,J- orphunr,

l,;TirH:iluations burned to thJ' g.o,.,,rd,-urd 4,ooo peristied of

The opuslibani website.put the death to, at ten thousand and RobertFisk at twelve thousand,i and the events of rg6o sowed a division withthe Druze that persists to the present day. After the French stepped into restore peace, the ottomans a,d Europeans initiated theMutosarrifiat syst:m . whereby a protocor of d64 signed by theottoman Empire, Engrand, France, Russia, Austria and prussia agreeda federation of the Mironites and.other rerigious groups in Lebanon.In reality rear power remained with the otto;;;1s as they maintainedcontrol of Beirut, Tripori, sidon yd the ,ugio; of Rashaya, Hasbayaand Bekaa. The remaining Christian districi*as ,ured by a Christian,but non-native, governor - obviousry this n.* ,yr,em was bitterryopposed by the Maro,ites from the patriarch dow'wards.,S

War and DivisionThe Mutasa*ifiat came to an end with the outbreak of the First worrdwar' During this period the Maronites, along with many other EasternChristians, and in particutr. tnu Armeniani *uru persecuted by theTurks, who perceived ail christians as potentiar traitors who wourd

,:n;:i"'i."1li:,;lj :L. .,g qrt1.;ffi;uT.,,.," decided nor to

Lebanese people.'(r898-r93r) led a L1919. The represencouncil of the MutLebanon was pro(territories returnerestablished and ir

independence was

French Mandate vthat all foreign troalthough to outsidcentral element inday, the MaronitNaaman, a respecl

writes:The MaronitrMaronite Chtthe word. It a

work for an'

attached it toMaronites an,

continued coland still is the

As a nation of tradto travel and the Iany of the otherArmenian Churchcontinued financiaearlier emigrants a

most notable of tinteresting that sot

was accelerated by

After the war,that the Martendencies d:

'e See: Abbot Paul

Experience (r516-r94<www.mari.org>.'o Ibid.

let others decide the fate ;a rh;ir'.'oi..,il;ffiff"[t:;l* U:" Antoine Khoury Harb, The Maronifes. History and Constants (Lebanon:Atallah Editions, r9g5) rzo.

<www.cedarland.org>.'7 History of the Mainite potriorchafe <www.opuslibani.org>; Robert Fisk,,'J ? j1", I:

r,:,: (o fr?rd U n i ve r si.y n." r r, r s s z) p. xvi .

o,Xilll i.",,*::il*f;* .rhe Moronites.

-Hisiory and constonrs (r.ebanon:

;calated with atrocities onile massacres in rg6o. As follows:

ristians were slaughtered inD.erween 7,ooo to u,ooo and

it*!t luiU News in Jtrly 186o,u9 been lnurdered, 5,ooo

l :1 , leuer, speaks cr? 326

I.l.tr, and 9 orher rcligiriusL Churchill puts the fig'u.e,,ooo widows and n,.1.,ironr,r, at)d 4,ooo perislrecl of

,en thousand and Robert6o sowed a division wither the French stepped inropeans initiated thetf l.864 signed by thestria and prussia agreed)us groups in Lebanon.ans as they maintained

ll olt:haya, HasbayaB ruled by a Christian,w system was bitterly,wnwards.,s

'eak of the First Worldlh many other Eastern)re persecuted by theil traitors who would)anese decided not to:hout consulting the

I Constonts (Lebanon:

tni.org>; Robert Fisk,

Constants (Lebanon:

37

Lebanese people. To this end the Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoayek(r898-r93r) led a Lebanese delegation to the Versailles Conference inr9r9. The representations of the Patriarch and other members of the

council of the Mutasarurfaf were successfrtl and on r September rgzo

Lebanon was proclaimed a state. The country had all its historical

territories returned. ln ry26 the Republic of Greater Lebanon was

established and its first constitution ratified but Lebanon's trueindependence was not achieved until zz November 1943 when theFrench Mandate was finally ended - ir-r reality it was not until 1946

that all foreign troops lef,t the country."' It is interesting to note that,although to outsiders the Maronite Patriarchate seems to have been a

central elemeut in Lebanese politics up to and including the present

day, the Maronites themselves do not accept this. Abbot Paul

Naaman, a respected historian in the traditional Maronite manner,writes:

The Maronite Church did not plactice politics directly. Nor is theMaronite Cl'rurch a national Church in the strict historic meaning of'

the word. It also did notattach itsclf to any political system, nordid itwork fbr any specific country. However, its search ftrr frcedornattached it to Lebanon, thus Lebanon became the spirihral land of theMaronitcs and nothing is more precious than protecting it. The onlycontintred corlcern of the Maronite Church throughout its history was

and still is the fi'eedonr of its people to live and worship in digniry."'

As a nation of traders and accomplished linguists, the Lebanese began

to travel and the Maronite diaspora began much earlier than that ofany of the other Eastern Churches, with the exception of theArmenian Church. The aftermath of the First World War andcontinued financial instability led to a wave of Lebanese followingearlier emigrants and leaving for the USA and elsewhere - perhaps themost rrotable of these emigrants being Gibran l(halil Gibran. It is

interesting that some Lebanese commentators claim that this process

was accelerated by problems within the Maronite community itselfi

After thc war, there was a rcturn to the traditional pattcrn of lifb. Nowthat tl're Maronites had a rnore nonnal existence, there were twotendencics dividing thcm. Conflict was rcnewed, and the enemy

'e See: Abbot Paul Naaman L.M.O, 'Church and Politics in tl're MaroniteExperience (ry6-ry43), The Journal of Moronite Studies, vol z, no r (1998),

<www.mari.org>.- Ibid.

38

outside entered the house. Corning to the most recent part of the

contemporary history of our comrnunity, we find selfishness as the

dorninating force driving the l'rearts of the faithful. Division reached

the point where members were finally at each other's throats and

carrying out massacres.

This egoism had inevitable repercussions on tl're lives of the faithful.There was a moral collapse, and many people went abroad, as theirpredecessors had done after the events of 186o."

This process continued throughout the twentieth century and was

obviously significantly exacerbated by the outbreak of the Lebanese

civil war in ry75. In the confusion of the war alliances were constantlyshifting as the different factions sought to gain the upper hand and inthe morass of accusations and counter-accusations that have

characterised the civil war it is often forgotten that the Syrian armywas originally invited into the country by the Maronite faction." Thisis especially significant when we consider that it was the Maroniteswho were amongst the vociferous opponents of the Syrians until theirwithdrawal from Lebanon in zoo4, and many of whom continue tocampaign against pro-Syrian politicians in the Lebanese Parliament. Itis also important to remember that many Maronites still prefer to dealwith educated middle-dass Sunni Muslims than to mix with theOrthodox Christians who have instinctive links with the Shi'apopulation and even with Hezbollah.'r Often these divisions are based

more on commercial and social factors than religious considerations;whilst the Maronites have for centuries been pro-European,particularly pro-French and modelled their businesses, fashions andaspirations on a European model, the Sunni middle classes havebegun to aspire to the same lifestyle and outlook. By marked contrastthe Shi'a and, to a certain extent, the Orthodox Christians,Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian, espouse a more traditional

" History of the Maronite Patriarchate, <www.opuslibani.org>." Robert Fisk, Pily the Nation (Oxford University Press, r99z) 83.

'r During periods of time spent in Lebanon teaching at the lhtiversitd Soint-Esprit up until and including zoo4, I encountered a number of wealthy Sunnistudents, mostly female, who I was told were encouraged to attend theMaronite institution as somewhere they would be well educated in a safe andmorally upright environment. On the other hand a Rum (i.e. Greek) Orthodoxmonk has told me of his travels around Iran on a cultural trip paid for by hisHezbollah friends and, although ctrrrently resident in the UK, he stillsocialises with Shi'ite [rbanese from the south of the country.

lifestyle and, wt

enthusiastic abr

Whilst many Y(

for clubbing, I

Orthodox lead

behind such ter

TodaY the Mmillion PeoPltdemonstratd,of military att'

EuroPe, the Ui

foreseeable fu

Jo,ooo Canadi

stranded in thas the maioritpeoPle livit'tg t

The Quest foThe events ol

Maronite ider

the Church t

World Maror

'o [n 1997 as a

church hall oRum Orthodothe Satanismyoung twentYan English tei

down MichaeSatan lurked i

l,ebanon to iLebanese (M;

that she wat

growing thre

to me to cor

and I shudde

contemPorat'5 Figure froWorld Maro

cent paft of' theelfishness as theDivision reacheder's thloats and

's of the faitlrfi.rl.abroad, as their

ttury and wastthe Lebaneseere constantlylr hand and ints that havee Syrian armyhction." This:he Maronitesns until theirI continue toParliament. Itprefer to dealnix with the:h the Shi'a)ns are basednsiderations;:o-European,

hshions andclasses haveked contrast

Christians,traditional

versitd Saint-ealthy Sunni, attend thein a safb andk)Orthodoxid fbr by hisJK, he still

39

lifestyle and, whilst aspiring to the material goods of the West, are less

enthusiastic about taking the western way of life on board wholesale.

Whilst many young Lebanese are part of the MTV generation and live

for clubbing, designer clothes and the latest mobile phone, the

Orthodox leaders in particular are quick to warn that Satan lies

behind such temptations.'aToday the Maionite diaspora population is put at more than eight

million people worldwide" and as the events of zurnmer zoo6

demonstiated, with Lebanon remaining politically unstable and at risk

of military attack across its borders, the emigration of Maronites to

Europe, the USA, and Canada in particular, is set to continue for the

foreseeable future. When Beirut was attacked in July zoo6 some

Jo,ooo Canadian citizens were reported in the British press as being

itranded in the city; this is a clear indication of the size of the diaspora

as the majority of these were Maronites visiting friends and family, or

people living their lives between these two countries.

The Questfor a United ldentity: Politics and Spirituolity

The events of 186o up until the present day mean that questions ofMaronite identity have become even more important and emotive as

the Church struggles to keep this global community together. The

World Maronite Union declares that:

'a ln r9g7 as a youtrg student in Aleppo I was dragged to a public lecture in the

church hall of my local Syrian Orthodox Church. The guest lecturer was a

Rum Orthodox priest f,rom l,ebanon on a tour of Syria to warn Christians ofthe Satanism inherent in pop music. The lecture was packed with teenagers,

yogng twenty-somethings like myself and concerned parents (my escort was

an English teacher the same age as my parents). Tl're priest showed us slowed-

down Mi.haelfackson videos and variotts other video clips to convince us that

Satan lurked in popular culture before discussing a series of witchcraft trials in

lebanon to illuitrate his point. The next day I tried to laugh this off with a

Lebanese (Maronite) fiiend resident in Aleppo, but she stunned me by saying

that she was upset at missing the lecture as the rise of 'satanism' was a

growing threat tt Lebanese Christian society. Much of the 'satanism' appeared

io *" to consist of listening to Death Metal and being sexually promiscuous

and I shuddered to tl'rink what rny Syrian and l,ebanese friends would make of

contemporary UK teenagers.

'5 Figure frorn a staternent by Prof. Walid Phares, Secretary General of the

Wo rld Maronite Unio n, published <www.aramaic -dem,o rg>.

40

As rerated by rnain rristorians and experts, particurarly past Maronitehist.rians, i^clucling the chtrrcl',', .i;;';;rj.l.lr, th" rriri,ii."ia"nriry ofthe Marorite peopr; is Ararnaic, Syriac arrd Eurt",.n. This ia",r,iry, u, unatio,ar c.mmunity was born'i"'M;u;; Lebanon as of trre seventhcenhlry AD' It has since suruivecl, fl.u.ishecl ancl neve. abdicated,From Ibn al Qalai, t. Patriarch Estefan .io.,uihi, patrl Notrjairn, FuadAfi.arn al Btrstani, and Fath", B;;;;;:]r,,in" overwhelming majoriryof Maro,ite intellectuals ancl hist.rianslruu" rr.l"rli,ecl tt.,i,I"uliry..uFrom this statement it can be seen that Maronite Iaypeopre areperhaps more prepared to make poritic;l statements about theirchurch than crergymen, *ho .t,ooy.'to;a, down the i,terve,tion of

ffi ?i:in:x,i, tempo'ur -.tt.rs. rr is aiso ,...rru,v to u,derrine rhe

^.. u,. .ffi ff fiT

: H [1T T.. l;U : : HJ:.. ;:'J ll-J ,l,1 rr l:;i

;[themselves as speaki,g 'Llb.rr.r", iather th", ,Arabic,, a,d wherepossible emproy a mixture of French a.d Arablc. This is exprained as awish to distance themserves from the pares,J,ri.,r, and, in many casesmore emphaticary, the syria,s. As the p;iililnr"l,",r'r^il? ,noworsens this insistence on an 'Aramaic' ;J il"enician, heritage wi,only i,crease and tt. trrJitionar view J rut"ronite history w,r beespoused in an attempt to dista,ce the Maro'ites from the otherwarri,g factio,s in iontemporary Lebanon. A te,denry of theMaro,ites in the rate r99ot'una

i1. n.ri ;;-, of the twenry_firstcentury to see Israer as the naturar ,ryi;;h.'..g,., ,., a.rti. irongblow by the Lebanese-rr.u"fi-irar of zoo6, a,ri leaves the Maronite_backed government in a particur.rr, o...r.i#|rr,,io,..7so with this history of^rpo.;;l. persecution, poriticar upheavar, warand diaspora, how has thl vla.onite Church iarrag"d to guard thespirituar rife of the communitvi The a,sw.. io'trri, goes back to thevery origins of the Church a.d tfr. A.l oiir, ,r,"r: f,:.^t,::::::Bv remai,i,g a. church {-iv rured uy -",rr.l,i}"Jittff:','/T ]

isolated monasteries and hermitager, the spirituar heart of the IMaronite Church has manag.J-,o resist most ,r tr,. vagaries of the I

;:f H,ff#i,:HJ:.[lt:,.l..:iTj:f i?ffii:*, jll,x,.:,,ilff *il

identity car

Mount Leb

Lebanese N

find vocati<the diaspor,

Within ttMaronite e

other locatChurch normonks, Dar

errtered theMaronite C

the Maroniearliest mdemonstratattend retrtdimension'Eremiticalare assignecsilent contrdernonstrat

Fol tlthcirPCrS()land it

:S-r r'. h.alalr)

Elias, MctoulVtission, Arg,Irrrry Coast, I

t96o; TucurnLondon MissArint SharbclListcd in Fr.

Jourrrulot''Mul(, F'f()l'lltft)nT

Guit.r G. HouContcrnprlral-"' Ibid.t'Ibid.

'o lbid.

" !.n. zooT the Christians of Lebapo I i tic ailv' d ivid eJ by trr e

"l i,"

" ""- l? 1:",X;T::::"'JH #:.::1,,::;, ilTporitician, MicherAoun, ,ith i;;;;ilah theirirljiri"irr poriticar Jdu"rrury.

rrly past Maroniteistoric identiry ofThis identity, as aas of the seventhnever abdicated.I Noujaim, Fuadlming majorirythis realiry.'6

laypeople areabout their

intervention ofunderline thehostile to thewill refer to

ic', and whereexplained as ain many casesion with Syria'heritage willistory will be

the other

twenty-firstdealt a strong

the Maronite-27

upheaval, warto guard the

back to theic origins.Iargely in

heart of the

the twenty-Maronite

ronites, weregeneral and

4r

can survive, we find a renewal of the monastic tradition inLebanon, the traditional heartlands of the Church. Both the

Maronite Order and Mariamite Order have continued tovocations and the Lebanese Maronite Order has accommodated

diaspora by opening missions across the world.'SWithin the last twenty years there has also been a renewal in the

ite eremitical tradition that was so successfril at Qozhaya and

locatiotrs in the Wadi Qadisha in the Middle Ages, and the

now has four hermits: three monks and a nun. One of the

Dario Escobar Montanya Sanchez was born in Columbia and

the Maronite Lebanese Order in t99o, having encountered the

Maronite Church in Mexico. This is one illustration of the vibranry ofthe Maronite diaspora communities.'e This desire to return to the

earliest monastic origins of the Maronite tradition is also

demonstrated by the growing number of young people who regularly

attend retreats in the mountains in an effort to deepen the spiritual

dimension of their lives. The Antonine Sisters regularly organise

'Eremitical Days' in Wadi Qannoubine where groups of young people

are assigned two to a hermitage for twenty-four hours for prayer and

silent contemplation.r" The Maronite character of this retreat isdemonstrated by the stated aim of the exercise:

For the nuns, the first objective was that the participants, througl'r

their eremitical engagement, would undertake a path in which theypersonally met God and would make an effort to support the Chr-rrch

and its believers.l'

'8 Fr. Karam Rizk lists the overseas missions as follows: Monastery of Saint

Elias, Metoushi, Cyprvs, 1737; Dakar Mission, Senegal, 1949; Mendoza

Mission, Argentina, r95z; Sao Paulo Mission, Brazil, 1954; Abidian Mission,

Ivory Coast , rg54; Bamako Mission, Mali, 1959; Mexico City Mission, Mexico,

196o; Tucuman Mission, Argentina, tgTz; Sydney Mission, Australia, r97z;

London Mission, United Kingdom, 1983; Montreal Mission, Canada, 1984;

Saint Sharbel House, Surenes, France, 1987; Caracas Mission, Venezuela, 1988.

Usted in Fr. Karam Rizk, 'The History of the Lebanese Maronite Order', The

lournalof Maronite Studies,vol 4, no z (zooo), <www'mari'org>''e For information on the rebirth of the Maronite eremitical tradition see

Guita G. Hourani & Antoine B. Habchi, 'The Maronite Eremitical Tradition: A

Contemporary Revival' , The Heythrop Journol, 45 boo+) 45b465.r" Ibid.3',lbid.

42

These activities are ofrrameworti +;;; ;'r,;ilii,o|Tlr"fea bv a wel-estabrished

x*tn#:l#$i';fl1$$i$*:#ijiTill':r.t#"|ffi;,'l,li,Hl].;* t*'i't oi" ri*ture orad,enture activitiesrnr,pi.i,u.ruy?;:-i,1,:ii.!i,:ilJt$.*:,.ttihrusuccessfur.printing t ouru *1

?y ,rr" ia""rlrite Univer srti, Lrniversitd;IIJ,:"fl: !' r'Srffijorriu( "; ",dive seaside town norrh or

$::"ffi ,.,T##iflif::i:!r"li,xu;:,:nil,ff :f T;provides a wide variery ,roj3.fl;^hymnology and .ano, r", but also

;:,?::IiT ; * * i:::r: di x. ffi ,

J,;,T ::.:, i

" p",u.u

r L "

n u, u.,

M;;ffi ;vr'flf ,'o*establishe{a.tra"Jffi:lr:'. jffi #*?:f[*:,;il1,,,Til:iiryi:1,l-lii:i"ffi;;t;ji*.,;,t"#ffi

Mount Le

The pres(Iinked to tof nationaand the B

was greatcanonisedpride to acars as pr(also threenorthenr L

this regior-rAt the sanChurch as ,

tradition c

nineteenthvibranry ofthat thedenominatithat no otht

Maronites ,

Today we caidentity andChurch as ;others rvho a

new historirscholarship t

beliefs of thtthe Secretanpoints out th

the statthat rhrof'thc p.stayed a

While this is

P Prof Walidpublished <ww!

-establishedmovement,

ians. Churchall Christian

activities

the highly, Universitd

north ofiac heritage,tradition. It

a number

note thatEuropean

those stillcan have

of their

in Arabic,

unable to

gives thebetween

43

nt Lebanon and the Maronite Sointspresence of local, specifically Maronite Saints is intrinsicallyd to the religious and ,ational ide,tity of Maronites. It is a source

national pride that Sai.rt Sharbel Makhlouf was canonised in ry77J the Blessed Rafqa Rayess was beatified in r9g5. Naturally the;;

great rejoicing in zoo4 when the Blessed Nimatullah Hardini wasrnised by Pope John Paul II. These holy people are a source ofe to all Maronites who display their images in their homes andas protective talismans and symbols of Maronite faith. They arethree figures strongly linked to the Maronite landscape ofLern Lebanon and help to crystallise the commonly held view of

his region as a Maronite Holy Land, sanctified by centuries of prayer.rt the same time this also stre.gthens the ofhcial identity'of the-hurch as a monastic, mountain-dweiling entity, strongly rooted in aradition of prayer and spirituality. The fact that these are all

th century figures is also used to point to the continuingof Maronite piety. It is left unspoken, but the implication iI

the Maronites have been especially blessed over otherninations to have been given three saintj within a century, a feat

no other oriental catholic denomination can boast.

ronites in the Twenty-first Centurybday we can see several currents of belief circulating about Maronitelentity and history. There are those who fiercely defend a view of thel as an ethnic group and political identity, whilst there are

who are re-evaluating their history and revising it in the light ofhistorical discoveries and changing political"perceptioni. Asrrship evolves there is more of a bluiring of boundaries and the

-lr of the clergy and laypeople are becomfng closer. For examplesecretary General of the world Maronite Union (a layperson)

out that:

the statement of political affiliation with the Arab League didn,t meanthat the Maronites negated their historical ethnic ideitity. Regardlessof the political choices of many of their political forces, the Maronitesstayed attached to their historical identity.r,

ile this is an essentially conservative statement, there is also

walid Phares, Secretary General of the world Maronite Union,I <www.aramaic -dern.org>.

44

evidence that Maronite scholarship.,s beginning to take account ofothers'perceptions of the Church ""a

to *"*r.r, ,n"i. o.., iJ.n,i,y. t,is with this forward-looking folicy tt"t tr,.?hu..h will continue toevolve and meet the dema,r?r or,i," ,*""iv-ir, century search for anew spirituarity, as Harard suermann ;;;;"r: ,Maybe one d.y

t?i:ffi #[H "XJ

:r5"]rui,"?' ;;'" ;;mon Chu rch hi st o ry,However Suermann wrote this essentiary optimistic staternent in2oo4 when Lebanon was e,joying a uoo-i"g #no_y and a rerativerystable poriticar period. wiit 'the

events of zoo6 sti, so crear in theminds of a, Lebanese and the repercussions st,l shaki,g the frairedifice of Lebaneru.,g.T.g.l..y i, is perhaps i; ;. expected that eachmi,ority group wi, fa, uait into "rrr.*.t"a positions and theMaronites wiil return to their comfortin! p"...prions of the past toenhance their sense of 'them .na url ?i" ir,,, r, a possibirity isacknowledged by the rur.ronii., ,h.-rurr.r.Tnrs, on z6 January zooTthe Maronite League issued a statement decraring that a, Lebanese

ilT:ffitept some responsibility for rhu ;;;...r, viorence to sreep

Where next?

commurthe worl,

On theLebanonthe regicin the tuMosul atare secuprocess a

monks ar

Qadishaidentity:the twent

on one lever the charenges facins,,l: con-temporary Maronite Churchare those that face ail th"e ori."tir ct,r..n.r.-iu,ra"-ental i,stabirityi, the region means that the Ji"rpo* conti,ues apace a,d radicarnewstrategies are needed to p."r.*. tt " .o-n,on sense of Maroniteidentity. In sorne'ways the ira.onites "* p;;;rry we, equipped todeal with these charie,rgesr ,rrw

1. giftei ringu,r,, a,d tradespeopreand their love of r,.*"t.;h";i"gy means thit t_ebanese ,o.i.ty ingeneral is pecuriarry advanc.J-i,, "rr

.",rn..-o?communications andmultimedia ,etworks. uouite ptr"".r,

-'high-speed internetconnections and web-based dissemination of inro.-ation were the

::Jil,,I, L.?1,:", rong u"ro.. the ,;";;;l,s Middre Eastern

:l*;::x":',:l.1',il:jj*^fi =[r:,iiiti],ru;'lil:?i[:::,j::ir

and canadian ruiaea M;;il;;il'.:*:XTl.'ii:rH';J:

I^T::l #ilIH;#l:Ti'.""T::::F.:tlr -and

rdeor osy,, rhe rournat orEqstern christion st"aa"':;;': .

r urlur lu8rapny ancl Icra Maroniro r.,-,:1{',"::' 54' no Y+(,oLrir;;:,l Y-:::re League:,; il;:' ;U;i:ioT;ty in the conflictz6 t' zooT press ."-i"u," o n <www. -" # ii::,':fi ::rlTr::

n fl ic t ta ki,g pracel

take account ofown identity. It

will continue tosearch for a

Church history,

statement inand a relativelyso clear in the

ing the frailed that each

itions and theof the past to

a possibility islanuary zoo7all Lebanese

rite ChurchI instabilityradical new

of MaroniteI equipped totradespeople

society inions andinternet

ion were theiddle Eastern

potential ofLebanese, USthe diaspora

The Journal o_f

taking place',

45

ity to gain news of their community wherever they may be- in

world.

On the other hand the Maronites are particularly rooted in Mount

banon. Their links to their chosen spiritual heartland are unique in

e region today. The Syrian Orthodox lost Edessa and the Tur 'Abdin

the twentieth century and they are losing their monasteries around

;ul at this moment. By holding on to Wadi Qadisha the Maronites

securely anchoring their identity to the Lebanese mountains, a

I aidld by the pi.t.,",.. of the recently canonised and beatified

and nuni. As iong as the monasteries and hermitages of Wadi

isha endure, the Maronite Church will remain secure in itsity and this is an inestimable advantage in the fractured world of

twenty-first century.